- 29 -in its safety, returning to reliance on careful and precise hand-picking of cotton and the eradication of foreign plants from cotton fields. The Department prepared a lengthy report for the Director of the Department of Agriculture concerning the experiments conducted during the year to ascertain the effect of chemical fertilizers on cotton plants. In the summer, they tested four types of André Meyer nets for the control of harmful insects, but unfortunately, the results did not meet the hopes placed on these nets.

Last spring, the Department brought a quantity of wheat seed from Delhi, as the wheat brought from India a few years ago had deteriorated in quality and yield. The new seeds were planted in fertile land. If they proved successful and satisfactory, their yield would be preserved as seed for the coming winter. Furthermore, the Department obtained a selected variety of wheat from the Modern Agricultural Society and will cultivate it like ordinary wheat, expecting it to surpass all other known varieties of wheat in the country in quality.

The monitoring of groundwater continued last year as it did in 1908 and 1909. A plot of land was designated at the Authority's center for the Survey Department to conduct further experiments of this kind.

Work is underway to gradually adjust the system of the Department's employees in the centers. The total of bonuses paid by the Department to those who were promoted in 1909 and 1910 reached 31,000 Egyptian Pounds.

"9" - The Agricultural Bank Although the quality of the cotton crop improved this season, leading to some improvement in the collection of dues for the Egyptian Agricultural Bank from farmers in the Lower Egypt governorates, this improvement was unfortunately offset by a significant decline in collections in Middle and Upper Egypt. Consequently, collections for the entire country decreased compared to the previous year. The following table shows the results of the past seven years.